Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is back, posting publicly to her Facebook site Friday for the first time since leaving office.

Too bad she didn't just keep quiet.

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," the former Republican vice presidential candidate wrote.

"Such a system is downright evil," she added.

The health care reform debate is heated. The national community has shown that time and again in recent weeks as town hall meetings devoted to the subject have devolved into shouting matches. The local community has shown it as well, in rapid-fire letters to the editor, among other manifestations.

It is also necessary. Political and ideological affiliations aside, the free and ready expression of opinions through a public discourse is one of the building blocks of democracy, and the majority opinion of a great many people with good sense - as opposed to the machinations of one or a few - is one of the only guarantees this world offers of action for the greater good.

That's why it is frightening when someone like Palin - who has a following on Facebook alone of almost 700,000 - offers up such uninformed, inaccurate tripe.

Whether you agree or disagree with the premise behind Democrats' health care reform plans, the spread of • and blind faith in - such rumor and innuendo is irresponsible.

This rumor, that certain healthcare reform bills on the table would encourage selective euthanasia, has been circulating online for days, if not weeks.

There's no truth to it.

In short, it is a lie.

The allegation appears to be based on a section of a House bill that would require Medicare to pay for voluntary end-of-life counseling sessions for beneficiaries who want the service.

These sessions would cover such basic questions as whether a patient desired to designate a living will directing doctors or family members as to their wishes were they to enter a permanent vegetative state.

This is not a "death panel," it is a responsible action, as any healthcare professional can attest.

Don't want health care reform? Fine. But the spread of such misinformation, whether a result of a lack of due diligence or an outright attempt to skew an outcome based on a distortion of reality, is not only dishonest, it is unacceptable.

We expect better of Palin - and, for that matter, all our elected officials.